A barrel marked FLAMMABLE was found floating in a puddle in the Brookfield landfill in 1983.
(Staten Island Advance File Photo)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - RICHMOND - In the wake of methylene chloride findings at Brookfield Landfill, which is under remediation, one state agency currently monitoring the project at the site has decided to take independent air record samples.

The results of the samples taken by the state Department of Health (DOH) are expected to be available within a few weeks, said agency spokesman Jeffrey Hammond.

Hammond said that based on reviews of existing air data from the landfill, the health agency believes there may be sampling issues that contributed to the presence of methylene chloride.

"The state believes the problem may be due to the collection and/or analysis of the samples taken by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) contract laboratory," he said.

"The state has collected independent air samples at the landfill in order to assess this issue," said Hammond. "Sample results are expected within a few weeks."

The DEP controls the air monitoring stations that detected the methylene chloride.

"In an effort to determine the potential for laboratory error associated with methylene chloride, the contractor and (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) (NYSDEC) have collected a series of split samples this month which will be analyzed both by the contractor's lab and by a lab used by NYSDEC," said DEP spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla. "It is anticipated that the complete set of analytical results will be available in a few weeks."

The DOH will be working with their partners to determine corrective measures needed for the landfill sampling plan, noted Hammond, and the agency will also analyze and assess potential health hazards indicated by the data.

The DEC, which collects the samples, declined to comment.

News of more samples being taken came a week after State Assemblyman Lou Tobacco (R-South Shore) formally requested the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to oversee the air monitoring program at the site.

Tobacco urged the EPA to step in following what he considered vague and inconclusive findings regarding the source and levels of methylene chloride by the DOH and the DEC.

"I am deeply concerned that the monitoring is not being conducted with the vigorous testing required to ensure the safety of the communities surrounding the landfill," said Tobacco, in a press release stating why he's asking the EPA for help.

"The DEC and DOH's response to our concerns lacks the details of methylene chloride's potential toxicity to our surrounding communities and the steps they (people) can take to protect themselves from dangerous exposure," the assemblyman added.

The EPA has yet to answer Tobacco's request.

According to EPA spokesman Elias Rodriguez, "Our internal evaluation of the information is ongoing."

Brookfield, a 217-acre dumping ground for years, was closed in 1981, but little was done to clean up the contaminated site, despite years of complaints by neighbors, according to Advance archives.

After remediation, a 132-acre Brookfield park is to open to the public sometime after 2017, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in April.

As part of a $266 million cleanup funded by the city and state, the landfill will be remediated with 2 million tons of soil and a heavy-duty lining to keep hazardous materials from leaching.

Bloomberg said the city would plant 17,000 trees and shrubs, and place another 76,000 wetlands plantings on the site.